Relations Between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei During the War Against Japan: An Examination of Some Problems

Relations Between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei During the War Against Japan: An Examination of Some Problems by Cai Dejin Translated by Lloyd Eastman (Translator's Note: Cai Dejin, of Beijing Normal University, represents a trend among historians in the People •s Republic who are seeking to objectively rea~sess the historical role of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist ;Government, noting positive achievements as well as shortcomings: Professor Cai here forcefully argues that Chiang and his government--by contrast wi t.h the Wang Ching-wei faction--adamantly opposed any capitulation to the Japanese during the war and that, following the war, they severely punished all Chinese who had served in the puppet regime of Wang Ching-wei.) The relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei that is discussed in this paper concerns not only the personal relationship between Chiang and Wang, but deals also with the relations between their two cliques within the Guomindang ruling group. It also treats of Wang Ching-wei •s traitorous defection to the enemy and of the relationship between his puppet government in Nanking and the Nationalist Government in Chungking. Evaluating the relationship between Chiang and Wang during the War of Resistance is of great importance, because it provides insights into the history of the war of resistance and into the attitude of Chiang Kai-shek and the Chungking government toward the war. Part 1 In December 1938, just when the Anti-Japanese War was entering the period of stalemate, Wang Ching-wei led his wife Chen Bijun, Chen Gongbo, Zhou Fohai, Tao Xisheng, and others in fleeing Chungking and traitorously defecting to the enemy. What was the role of the Chungking government in Wang• s defection: The answer is that Chiang Kai-shek and the Chungking government had absolutely no responsibility in this affair. Immediately following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Chiang and Wang assumed different postures regarding the question of resistance and regarding cooperation between the Guomindang and the Communist Party. Chiang Kai-shek believed that "if the Japanese 3 provoke hostilities, regardless of their intentions, our military forces should prepare for total mobilization. All areas shall proclaim martial law, and the procedures for a declaration of war shall be prepared." [1] On July 17 at the Lushan Conference, Chiang also spoke about preparations for war against Japan and proposed four fundamental preconditions that must be met before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident could be resolved peacefully. On August 14, the Nationalist Government issued a proclamation declaring that "China will definitely relinquish none of its territorial sovereignty, and will respond to acts of aggression by exercising its inherent right of self-defense." Subsequently, the Nationalist Government established the Supreme National Defense Council and the National Defense People's Political Council, as well as secret! y organizing a wartime military headquarters. The entire nation was thus placed on a wartime footing. Regarding Guomindang-Communist relations, Chiang did not wholly abandon his earlier anti-Communist position, but he readily went along with the tide of history. At the height of the fighting at Shanghai, for instance, he issued a proclamation recognizing the legal status of the Chinese Communist Party. The Second United Front between the Guomindang and the Communists was thus inaugurated . Wang Ching-wei, by contrast, opposed the war against Japan and advocated a policy of appeasement. He denied that Japan was an aggressor , asserting that "Enmities should be lessened, not increased. If there is war, then both sides will incur losses, but if there is peace, then we can exist together in common prosperity. Thus, China should now use the utmost restraint and do its utmost to resolve all conf 1 i ct s so that the present embittered relations may be improved ." [2] Wang spread the defeatist doctrine that a war with Japan would result.in the destruction of the nation, asserting that such a war would entail "nothing but sacrifice," and would "reduce the population and land of both cities and countryside to ashes."[3] He also obstinately maintained his anti-Communist stance, as he had during the previous ten years, proclaiming that "the work of exterminating the Communists must not be halted until fully...